Alex writes on January 30, 2010:
hey heather.
i think i always start this out with, ‘i’m sure you know about this’, but was walking by the construction on noble and franklin and i always look to see what this new bar would eventually be called (sigh), but there was a new sign up saying that it was going to be a restaurant with outdoor seating!?
point gree cafe inc.
le gaminthat’s what i know.
This is very interesting Alex. And lest you are wondering ,yes, I did notice 108 Franklin was getting a facelift. On January 20, to be precise.
The funny thing is I don’t recall seeing a notice for a liquor license hearing— scheduled for January 12, 2010— when I walked by. Your commentary suggests this document is a new addition.
Sure enough, there it is. After the fact. Hmm.
A liquor license + “outdoor backyard seating” located amid residential property + without proper notice = this will be interesting.
Miss Heather
Photo Credits: The first and third were take by yours truly 01/31/2010 and 01/20/2010 respectively. The rest are from Alex. Taken 01/30/2010
P.S.: I have brought this to the attention of our Community Board. What is the point of having such an entity, the ostensible voice of the people, when the community (READ: the people Franklin Street) is not aware it’s about to be saddled with another “eating and drinking establishment”? Probably one more than it would care to have already.
To be fair, there is a dearth of *eateries* south of Greenpoint Ave on Franklin. As someone who lives off of this end of Franklin, I wouldn’t mind having a place around the corner where I can meet friends or grab some takeout, sometimes those 8-9-10+ blocks up Franklin in the cold weather are rough!
There are plenty of bars close by though, so if this will be a decent place to get foodstuffs at least, I can’t be too upset about it. I absolutely love having Cookie Road so close, that’s a treat, especially because they serve food other than sweets too. But yeah, it is lame if they aren’t playing by the rules.
I walked by this for the first time yesterday and saw the notice for 1/12 and thought “Damn i missed it”.
I think this is an over-served community.
the problem isn’t the eatery, and frankly not every residential area requires ‘eateries’. some residential areas should just be residential.
the problem is the outdoor seating. given that people who live halfway up milton are kept up all night by the noise from whatever that bar is on franklin & greenpoint (the one kitty corner from the pencil factory), WE DON’T NEED OUTDOOR SEATING. I’ve been at the public safety committee meetings where they grill potential outdoor space restaurant owners within an inch of their life. i can’t believe this got approved on this part of town. Franklin St. is not that long. You live in a city. Get used to walking or go back to Ohio.
While not totally crazy about nt‘s delivery, she’s spot on: the issue is the outdoor seating. That and the fact that what semblance of community participation in the process has been effectively bypassed.
If this is how this business sees fit to treat its neighbors now, what it is going to be like after they open? How late will this outdoor seating be open? Midnight? 1:00 a.m.? Later? These are all good questions.
It is no mystery that a substantial number of people are fed up with the Bedford Avenue-ification of Franklin Street: the bars, the noise, the trash, etc. This is probably why those notices were put up after the fact, e.g.; the neighbors of this establishment cannot complain if they are not aware a liquor license hearing has not been scheduled in the first place! No matter how you cut it, this is wrong. What’s more, putting the notices up after the fact is an insult.
H, I’m not crazy about NT’s delivery either, especially given the fact that I’m a) not from Ohio, not even close (I find the assumption arrogant just because I don’t share the same opinion) and b) I have been spending a lot of time in the city since I was 13-14 in the 1980s and has lived here or close by for the better part of the last 13 years. If anyone has been a first-hand witness to the greater gentrification of NYC over the past 25 years, I’m one of them. I grew up in an apartment in a city walking everywhere, not a house in the suburbs driving everywhere, and I still *wouldn’t* mind having an eatery or 2 closer by me. I also wouldn’t mind having a laundromat closer by me too.
Fair point about the outdoor seating but as someone who has windows that face out onto backyards on Calyer with multiple neighbors fond of outdoor parties all warm weather long, I deal with it. Cause hey, I live in a *city* right? Get used to high density living or go back to Ohio.
(And for the record H, I do agree on the outdoor seating part of things; however, I couldn’t resist addressing the irony in someone telling me I live in a city while complaining about another aspect of city living in the same breath. To each their own.)